LA City Council Votes To Curb the Supersizing Of 'McMansions'

LOS ANGELES, CA - Los Angeles' "McMansions" may no longer come super-sized.

The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved a series of measures aimed at limiting the size of the so-called "McMansions," large homes rebuilt atop relatively small lots. The decisions comes amid increasing pressure on city leaders to contain development in the city where some residents believe developers have been given too much leeway to build homes that are out-of-character with the neighborhood. City leaders have been embroiled in scandals over accepting questionable donations from developers, and the tension has helped lead to the slow-growth Measure S on the March 17 ballot.

In a 12-0 vote, the council approved an update to the city's Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, applying to single-family homes on lots that are less than 7,500 square feet. Such properties are currently allowed to have floor areas that are 50 percent of the lot size, but under the amendment will be reduced to 45 percent.

The council also unanimously approved an amendment that creates incentives for building detached garages or placing garages in the rear of a home by exempting them for the first 400 square feet from the size of the home, while garages that are attached at the side will have a 200-square-foot exemption.

The council also voted to put new limits on homes built on hillsides.

"We've been working on this issue for years. This is an exciting day. We have finally passed our Baseline Mansionization Ordinance and Baseline Hillside Ordinance," Koretz told City News Service. "They are considerably stronger than they were. I think this will be an end to giant boxy homes that tower over their neighbors."

The amendments still require the signature of Mayor Eric Garcetti, but he is expected to sign them, Koretz said.

Homes that are bigger than typically built in a neighborhood or dominate the footprint of the property they are located on -- often referred to as McMansions -- were limited in the original Baseline Mansionization Ordinance that passed in 2008. But the measure fell "far short of its mandate to create regulations that allow for sustainable neighborhoods and that protect the interest of all homeowners," Koretz wrote in the motion creating the amendments.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report; Photo: Patch Archive